Belmont’s Student Government Association launched a new feedback campaign to hear and record student concerns for the coming year.
The campaign aims to gather data from students through different online surveys, including questionnaires for specific minority groups on campus.
“The whole premise of this campaign is to gather student input and prioritize the students’ concerns when working with upper administration,” said SGA President Zaid Hatem. “I am ecstatic that SGA is launching such an incredible campaign in such dire and trying times for many of our students.”
The first survey was posted in SGA’s Instagram bio and all students who fill it out will be entered into a giveaway for Airpods, a $100 Belmont merch bag or a $25 Bongo Java gift card.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for students to get their concerns heard in a way that will also provide us with data and facts and evidence for their concerns. This is super important because this is how we can get things done and be taken seriously,” said chair of SGA Constitutional and Ethics Committee and parliamentarian Kaelinn Sabline.
All information received from this campaign will remain confidential and can only be accessed by the relevant SGA members.
The first survey covers a broad selection of issues, and SGA plans to release a follow-up survey with more specific questions in the future.
“With our first survey, the questions we ask aren’t really directed towards certain issues. We want it to get an overall feel for what issues the students are concerned about,” Sabline said.
In the meantime, SGA’s liaisons are releasing specific surveys for underrepresented groups on campus, including the Black Student Association, the Asian American Association, the HOPE Council and Women in Entertainment.
The liaisons, which any organization on campus can request to have, are able to voice concerns for specific issues that SGA doesn’t know to ask about, broadening the reach of the information gained from this campaign.
“Since they represent their organizations, they understand their audience more than we do. We are trying to get more diversity and make sure that all voices are being heard,” Sabline said.
These liaisons will extend the campaign with surveys that can only be completed by members of their respective organizations. These will be distributed one at a time in the coming weeks to ensure all data is given adequate attention.
SGA is eager to expand its diversity and improve the way it represents the students, and ask that any student who is able fill out these surveys as they are released.
“This is your campus. This your community,” Sabline said. “We want you guys to get involved … This is how change happens, it’s always better when you have a group working together to make change.”
—
This article was written by Margot Pierson.